Cam & Tina's visit

Cameron and Tina came for a visit from October 25 - November 1. We had a wonderful adventure with them. We went to Antigua, Tikal, and visited places here in Guatemala City. Take a look at a few of the photos.

If you want fresh goats milk you just have to wait for the goat herder to come through the neighborhood. He will then milk a goat at your door and give you the fresh milk. Kathy made friends with this goat.


We climbed the Pacaya volcano. We got some great shots of a lava flow. The ground is very hot and you can feel the warmth of the lava where you stand on the volcano.







We had dinner on the mountain above Guatemala City at Portal del Angel.


Our visit to Antigua was another great adventure.


Cam and Tina enjoying the view from our hotel in Santa Elena, Peten on our way to Tikal.


We saw lots of great wildlife on this visit to Tikal. As we were driving into the National Park, we saw a big tarantula in the middle of the road. Tina thought this was the most exciting wildlife we saw.


We saw a great flock of Tucans on this visit.


This Coati was out looking for some lunch.


The wild turkeys were out as well.

Climbing the stairs up to the top of Temple 2 in the Grand Plaza.


From the top of Temple 2 we have Temple 1 in the background.


A great sunset on our way back to Santa Elena.


The local kids cooling off at the end of the day.

Day of Service: October 20, 2009

October 20 is a national holiday in Guatemala. The Church organized a Service Day asking each stake to come up with a major service project since the members would be available that day.

The Guatemala City Stake organized the service project at the Casa de Anini, a home for disabled people. We mowed the grass, replanted the gardens, painted, cleaned rooms, and donated food for the residents. I helped with replanting the gardens. It was a great way to spend a holiday!

Here's the group of brethren from our Branch who went on the service project. (from left to right: Marvin Coc, Juan Francisco Coc, Daring Castillo, Francisco Castillo, Axel Arellano, Cornelio Xico, Elder Preston King; kneeling: Lester Campaneros.


The garden beds had been over grown with plants and weeds. We cleared the beds and then planted new plants.




Axel Arellano is the Exeiive Secretary in our Branch. He is a new convert to the Church. He was baptized in May 2009. His wife has been a member for most of her life.


Elder King, the First Counselor in our Branch Presidency; Lester Campaneros, the Elder's Quorum President and a sister.

The University of San Carlos

My work in Guatemala is at the only public university in the country, The University of San Carlos. The university was founded in 1676. The Language Center where I work (Centro de Aprendizaje de Lenguas de la Universidad de San Carlos, CALUSAC) teaches 14 different languages. English is the language with the larget numbers of students enrolled. The campus is beautiful! Here are a few photos from around campus.

The Ceiba tree is the national tree in Guatemala. This is one of my favorite Ceiba trees that is on campus near the library.


The library and the Ceiba tree.

This is the back side of the main university administration building.


The front side of the administration building with a carved Mayan stone.


The CALUSAC building.


Inside the CALUSAC building.

This is one of my favorite photos. I found a pile of desks in one of the new buildings on campus. Isn't is great?

September 15: Independance Day

September 15 is Independence Day in Guatemala (and Central American countries). I captured the spirit of the celebrations is a few photos.

This is one of my favorites. A little Mayan girl with her head band, "Guatemala."

Cotton candy, ice cream and flags played a big part of the celebrations.

Most everyone had a headband.

Not far from our apartment there was a large gathering of people. It was so much fun to see so many people.

There was a very strong feeling of patriotism. The Guatemalan flag was everywhere.

People in all forms of transportation were enjoying the spirit of the day.

From the back of trucks and the tops of busses. People arrived for the celebrations. The events of the day can wear out the little ones.

School groups and Church groups of youth joined in torch runs. From the Obelisco to different locations throughout the city people ran in groups with torches.

It was great fun to see so many faces!

Friends

We have made some great new friends here in Guatemala. I thought that for this blog we would introduce you to some of them. We have come to love these friends very much!

President and Sister Torres of the Guatemala City North Mission.


Elder Wayne and Sister Suzanne Tompkinson are new to the area. They have served for a year in Honduras but have been transferred here to help in opening the new dental clinic at an orphanage here in Guatemala City.

Elder Jim and Sister Rexene Tilley are the Area Security missionaries.

Kathy with Sister Sarah Thibault. Sister T was the Area Mental Health missionary.

Elder Dick and Sister Myrna Graff are the country Perpetual Education Fund missionaries.

The love birds are Elder Bill and Adel Blackburn. They are the area trainers for the Church auditors.

Elder Charlie and Sister Judy Albert are construction missionaries supervising the construction of the dental clinic.

Elder Dean and Sister Marilyn Bawden are the area humanitarian missionaries.

Elder Kim and Sister Carolyn Taylor are the area medical missionaries.

Here is a small group of us at Tikal, Guatemala. From left to right: Kathy, Neil Sister Thibault, a Nephite warrior, Sister Barney, Elder Tilley, and Sister Tilley.

Market Day

One Saturday Neil and I went with an couple who were living in Guatemala to see the main
market called, La Terminal. This is the place where all of the farmers bring their produce to be sold in large quantities for stores. The colors were wonderful! There would be almost a whole block of people selling just tomatoes---then almost a block of just bananas---and so on.


These roma tomatoes are the main type that are grown in Guatemala. There were boxes and
boxes of them in La Terminal.


We saw these beautiful, yellow sweet bell peppers along with some red and orange ones too.
We bought a few to take home. You had to buy some portions from the vendors on the street part of the market. The vendors on the inside part of the market only sold in very large quantities.

These huge baskets held several different varities of little hot peppers. I don't think I would like to find out just how hot they were! But they were really a beautiful green color! We also found
herbs and spices set out like this in these big baskets.

On the inside part of the market (in one of the blocks) there were vendors who sold all sorts of meat. Whatever kind of meat, or part of the meat you wanted, they would get it for you. We also found crabs, lobster, shrimp (tons of shrimp!) and many different kinds of fish.

This is one of the street stalls with different kinds of vegetables---lettuce, corn, onions, and these
little green squash (I don't know their name). They all looked good enough to eat! One thing,
though, about going to La Terminal---you need to go with a Guatemalan. It isn't a very safe
place to go. We were glad to have our Guatemalan friends with us. It was a great experience.